Manipulatives are widely considered an effective practice and have been recommended as an evidence-based practice for students identified with a learning disability when used within the concrete--representational--abstract instructional framework. The aim of the current study was to evaluate single-case experimental designs that implemented a…

We conducted a comprehensive review of the literature to establish the evidence base for using visual activity schedules (VAS) with individuals with intellectual disability. Literature published after 2005 was evaluated for quality using the criteria developed by Horner et al.; a total of 14 studies were included as acceptable. Findings suggest…

The purpose of this review was to identify naturalistic language interventions for increasing spontaneous expressive language (defined in this review as absence of verbal prompt or other verbalization from adults or peers) in young children with autism spectrum disorder. Also, the methodological rigor and effectiveness of each study were evaluated…

Reporting standards and critical appraisal tools serve as beacons for researchers, reviewers, and research consumers. Parallel to existing guidelines for researchers to report and evaluate group-comparison studies, single-case experimental (SCE) researchers are in need of guidelines for reporting and evaluating SCE studies. A systematic search was…

Digital technologies enable the storage of vast amounts of information, accessible with remarkable ease. However, along with this facility comes the challenge to find pertinent information from the volumes of nonrelevant information. The present article describes the pearl-harvesting methodological framework for information retrieval. Pearl…

The paper explores the conceptual bases of the controversy over meta analysis and computes it with traditional research on four dimensions: (1) scientific rigor, (2) detecting small effects, (3) problems of oversimplification, and (4) potential policy impact. It is argued that choice of procedures should be determined by the specific purpose of a…

The paper reviews objections to meta-analysis in psychotherapy. It is suggested that claims to inclusiveness and objectivity are not supported by the evidence, and that for most purposes the simplistic scoring systems of meta-analysis are not only useless, but may be counterproductive. (Author/CL)

The paper discusses unique problems associated with affective dependent measures in comparative studies in special education. The use of a brief response integrity scale is recommended to assess differential magnitude of the social desirability response style when groups are to be compared. (Author/DB)

A critical review of the literature indicates that overselective attention: (1) is not limited to autistic children, (2) may be only one of several developmental lags these children display, and (3) may or may not be strongly correlated with children's language abilities and general intellectual abilities. (Author)

The meta-analysis of 22 studies on the effectiveness of computer assisted instruction (CAI) with exceptional children indicated that most studies reported CAI to be largely effective but that the result of calculating effect sizes indicated a moderate effect for CAI. (Author/DB)

A study of articles appearing in the "Journal of Learning Disabilities," from 1971 through 1980, yielded results such as 87 percent of definitions of dyslexia were in terms of a selective reading or spelling deficiency on a standardized test and only one of 45 studies classified dyslexics. (Author/MC)

Using 52 previous reviews of the early intervention efficacy literature, the article demonstrates the value of systematically considering previous reviews before initiating a new review. The authors suggest that tabulations of conclusions of reviews serve as hypotheses to be confirmed or rejected by objective synthesis methods. (Author/DB)

The need for research synthesis is explored as well as the benefits of meta-analysis, particularly those related to understanding and explanation. The problems with traditional review methods are discussed, with special relevance to their failure to resolve problems. Finally, the findings from several meta-analyses are summarized and contrasted…

The author critically reviews the literature on the developmental approach to mental retardation by examining such aspects as motivation, interrupted tasks, probability learning, institutional effect, statistical problems, and Piagetian tasks; and questions whether there is a substantial body of valid evidence supporting claims of…

The authors review the impact of research hypotheses and subject characteristics on the validity of observations. About half of the research articles ran substantial risk of biased observation; in about three-fourths of these articles, no precautions were taken by the researchers to safeguard the validity of their observations. (Author)